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FPAA elects board members, names member of the year

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas has elected board members and named a member of the year.

Jaime Chamberlain, president of Nogales, Ariz.-based J-C Distributing Inc., received the association’s Member of the Year award at its annual membership meeting May 7 in Nogales, largely for his advocacy for Mexican tomato growers during their dispute with Florida growers over price floors, according to an FPAA news release.

“During the tomato conflict, Jaime Chamberlain stepped up to the plate numerous times for media requests,” Lance Jungmeyer, FPAA’s president, said in the release. “He was featured on NPR, Arizona television stations and major national newspapers. He helped bring home the impact on U.S. business during this very important debate on trade.”

On the FPAA board, Alejandro Canelos of Nogales-based Apache Produce Imports will be chairman for one more year. SunFed’s Matt Mandel will be chairman-elect until taking over as chairman in 2014.

Also at the May 7 meeting, seven distributor directors and two associate directors were elected to the board, and a new FPAA tomato division chairman was named.

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About the Author:

Andy Nelson, markets editor

Andy Nelson joined The Packer as a staff writer in 2001. He became the paper's Handling & Distributing editor in 2005 and markets editor in 2006. Before joining Vance, Nelson was a staff writer for The Kansas City Star.